By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
No. 17 Baylor volleyball is gearing up for back-to-back home games this week, as the Bears are set to host Iowa State on Wednesday and Colorado on Friday at the Ferrell Center.
With three straight wins under their belts — 3-0 over Cincinnati, 3-1 at Houston and 3-2 against No. 18 TCU, all played in Texas — the Bears (13-6, 5-3) will stick around in the Lone Star State a little while longer, hosting the Cyclones (9-10, 3-5) and Buffaloes (10-11, 3-6) before playing at Texas Tech and hosting UCF next week.
Leading the charge for Baylor during the hot streak has been Elise McGhee, who dropped a career-high 30 kills and six service aces in Friday’s win over No. 18 TCU. The senior outside hitter is the first Division I player to put up that stat line since UNLV’s Mariena Hayden in Oct. 2021.
The Bears will continue their homestand at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, playing host to Iowa State on “Space Night” with a free lightsaber giveaway. The Cyclones have lost five of six after opening conference play 2-0, and have lost both of their ranked matches (vs BYU, at Kansas) in four sets.
Iowa State’s offense all starts with junior setter Morgan Brandt, who ranks ninth in the Big 12 with 9.1 assists per set, while senior libero Brooke Stonestreet has impressed defensively with 3.78 digs per set (eighth in the Big 12). As a team, though, the Cyclones have been solidly mediocre in a loaded Big 12, ranking between sixth and 10th in the conference in points, assists, kills, blocks, digs and service aces per set.
Colorado is dangerous at the top, with Ana Burilović’s 347.5 points raking sixth in the conference. But overall, the Buffaloes’ offense ranks dead last among Big 12 teams in points (15.36), kills (11.92) per set and the defense ranks last in digs (11.47). They’ve lost three straight and seven of their past 10, stretching back to a four-set home loss to rival Colorado State in September.
The Bears currently sit at No. 6 in the Big 12, but are only a half-game back of Utah, TCU and BYU (all 6-3). With 10 conference games left to play, the only remaining conference opponent with a better Big 12 record than Baylor is top-ranked Kansas, whom the Bears are set to play in Lawrence on Nov. 16.
